Fluid seal



April 3, 1951 P. l. COLE 2,547,257

FLUID SEAL Filed Sept. 9, 1946 INVENTOR. PREN T/SS COL E ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 3, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FLUID SEAL Prentiss I. Cole, Palo Alto, (Jalif.

Application September 9, 1946, Serial No. 695,664

2 Claims.

This invention relates to fluid seals, and more particularly to a fiuid seal of the washer type.

Among the conventional designs of Washer type seals, perhaps the most commonly used species is comprised of a metal Washer bonded or otherwise secured to a face of a rubber sealing element so that the peripheral surfaces of the washer and sealing element are in alignment. It is conventional to sleeve the sealing lip of the element on a rotatable shaft and to press-fit the seal within a bore surrounding the shaft. As the seal is in use, the continued contact of the rubber sealing element with a fluid such as oil causes the rubber to shrink awa from contact with the bore, thus leaving only slight surface contact between the washer and bore to prevent a case leak, the seepage of oil between the bore and the seal. Also, ince the Washer is substantially incompressible, its outside diameter must be equal to the inside diameter of the bore. This results in a low order of grippingcontact between the washer and bore, and the washer may, after slight use, rotate with the shaft, thus promoting case leaks.

In the attempt to inhibit such case leaks, cup like washers are utilized whereby a maximum of washer to bore contact is obtained, and a consequent minimization of the tendency for case leaks results. However, in the production of the cup-like washers blanking, piercing and forming compound dies are required. Equipment such as this has a high initial cost, and, due to the number of individual dies necessary for the production of a complete line of seals adapted to varied shaft sizes and varied bore sizes, the smaller scale manufacturer has either to forego the pro duction of a complete line of such seals, or to produce them at an economic loss.

I have devised a washer type fluid seal having improved case leak preventative qualities over the cup-like washer above described and which may be readily'manufactured without expensive blanking and piercing dies. This seal is comprised of the conventional rubber sealing element and a split ring retainer member bonded thereto.

The split ring may be manufactured in a number of ways: it may be made from tubing by sawing off a length of tubing equal to the height of the seal, followed by a transverse cutting or shearing of the ring in one place; the rin may be formed from strip stool; with a bench bender tool whereby a split circular shape is provided; or the ring maybe formed in a punch press with a simpleprogressive forming dye. Numerous other methods of forming a split ring are possible, and, in each, the equipment cost is negligible in comparison with that required for the production of the cup-like washers above described, thus enabling the fiuid seal manufacturer to accept a low volume order where the volume would ordinarily be insufficient to amortize the cost of the conventional tooling.

My split rin retainer provides superior case leak preventative properties over conventional washer type seals. When the ring is split by a sawing operation, a space is produced equal to the width of the saw blade. When the rubber sealing element is molded and bonded to the without reversing the ring, thus eliminating the need for special molds that provide for reversing the washer, as required with conventional washer type seals wherein the washer ha to be on the dry side when the seal is used to maintain oil or grease in a housing and on the opposite side, nearest thesealing lip, when the seal is used to keep dirt out of the housing. This procedure must be followed in order to obtain an ehicient press-fit in each instance.

' Among the objects, therefore, of my invention are the following: to provide a washer type seal having improved case leak preventative properties; toprovide a Washer type seal having a split rin retainer member adapted to be produced with the simplest and inexpensive tools whereby the unit cost of production is at a minimum; to provide a washer type seal wherein the position i the retainer member is such that the seal is adapted for use, without change, as an oil or grease seal or as a dirt seal; and to provide a fluid seal of the washer type having a split sealing element and a split retainer ring, said seal being adapted to be spread open for imposition on a shaft.

Other obj-ects'and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the drawing forming part of this specification, and in which:

Fig. l is a. plan View of an embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a view in elevation of the split ring seal of Fig. 1'; v

Fig. 3 is a dimetral sectional View in perspective of the fluid seal of Fig.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of another embodiment of the invention, showing both the rubber sealin element and the retainer member as being split;

Fig. 5 is a view in perspective of the seal of Fig. 4, spread to an open position; and

Fig. 6 is a partial View in section of a fluid seal embodying a modification of the split retainer ring.

Referring to the drawing for more specific details of the invention, is an annular rubber sealing element or web supporting a sealing lip l2 inset from the adjacent face of said web and I4 is a split metal ring, having ends it and I8, bonded to the element iii. Ihe bonding of the rubber to the metal ring may be accomplished by a number of conventional methods, as for example: the split metal may be cleaned in a solvent to remove all traces of oil or dirt which would have deleterious ct on the bonding of the rubber and. surfaces; a coating of thermosetting cement is then aplied to the inside surface of metal 'ing it; the ring is then placed in a mold with a piece of uncured rubber oi suitable size; the metal ring and rubber are then bonded together in the under pressure and at a temperature effective to simultaneously cure the cement and the rubber.

The resultant Fluid seal, due to th rubber in the gap between the r g ends it and !8, may be effectively press-fitted LlitQ a bore to maintain excellent contact between the bore and. the ring l4, and the compressing oi the ring to bring the ends it and i8 closer together, as the ring is press-fitted into the bore, causes. no measurable distortion of the sealing lip (2 when it is sleeved on a shaft. Thus, case leaks are more efiiclcntly prevented by the split ring it 1o attendant loss of sealing efficiency between the i2 and the shaft. The ring l4 may he s it larly or transversely, as shown in Fig. 2. It is to noted that the inset location of the sealing lip i2 from the face of the web it allows said lip to take a normal distortion when sleeved on a shaft withou the possibility of the lip coming in binding contact with the endface of the more in which the seal is press-fitted.

Figs. 4 and odification of the fluid seal of l cation 10 cal to the seal or F the exception that the rubber sealing it is also split at 22, said split tra n; v .ient with the split between the 53 of the retainer ring i l. seal may be ead. open, as dice-ted in Fig. 5, to enable a piac J of the seal on a shaft which will not or a convzzntional sleeving oi a closed ring thereon. An e ple of such a shaft would be cran :shaft instelation wherein the cranlrcas, is. divided or split on the axis of the shaft.

When t. e retainer ring it is formed of a spring steel, the ring will take no permanent distortion in the spreading; operation, and, when the seal is thus placed on a the sealing properties are equivalent to those obtainable with the seal of Fig. l.

Fig. 6 illustrates a modification of the split ring which use in place of ring is of the embodiments of the seals of Figs. 1 and 4. A split ring 22 having 2:3 and is bonded, as heretofore describe to a rubber sealing element or web 28 supporting a sealing lip 32. The ring of Fig. 6 may be made by using a bench bender to deform strip stock into ring form, thus avoiding the tooling costs necessary for the production of integral rings of the same cross-sectional form. The ring 22 may embody a single flange rather than the pair or flanges 24 and 25 shown.

The flanged structure of the split retainer ring of Fig. 6 is particularly adapted for use with fluid seals of large diameter, while the unflanged ring of Figs. 1-5 is particularly adapted for use with fluid seals of comparatively small diameter. Thus, when the flat strip stock metal is formed into a ring of small diameter, it receives greater working in the process than if formed into a ring of greater diameter. The greater the working of the metal, the greater is the rigidity of the metal and the less the tendency for the metal to revert to its unstressed form. When the diameter of the unilanged ring of Figs. 1-5 exceeds an experimentally determined value, the ring will not receive sufficient working to attain the desired set, and the tendency is that such a ring will tend to open and be sufficiently weak to buckle when press-fitted into a bore. If any buckling results, case leaks will develop and the ring may lose its grip in the bore and revolve with the shaft.

When the diameter of the fluid seal exceeds that diameter at which the unfianged ring of Fig. 1 is satisfactorily usable, the flanged ring structure of Fig. 6 may be used, since the flanges receive sufficient working in the formation of the ring to impart the desired rigidity.

While a number of modifications of the embodiment of the invention have been shown and described, it is understood that the invention is to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A fluid seal comprising a unitary annular Job of flexible material, a retainer ring out through to provide a pair of spaced apart ends, be

web, said web having a portion thereof extend ng between the ends of said ring and perit'iy occupying the space directly between cl -nds, and a parting line in said portion of web between the ends of said ring and e:-: ending through said web.

2. A fluid seal com rising an annular Web of flexible material, a retainer ring bonded to the outer circumferential surface of said web, said ring being continuous except for a single cut therethrough providing a pair of spaced apart ends, said web having a portion thereof extending between the ends of said ring and permanently occupying the space between said ends, and said web having a parting line in said portion of the web between the ends of said ring and extending through said Web.

PRENTISS I. COLE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,662,707 Hosmer Mar. 13, 1928 2,228,634 Walker Jan. 21, 1936 2,274,234 Ekkebus et a1. Feb. 24, 1942 2,310,607 Batesole Feb. 9, 1943 2,323,548 Lewis July 6, 1943 2,335,561 Dodge Nov. 30, 1943 2,383,959 Dick Sept. 4, 1945 2,480,116 Brummer Aug. 30, 1949 doc to the outer circumferential surface of 

